If You Have an Iowa Permit
If you have an Iowa permit and your only sales are into Iowa, you should not register to be a Streamlined retailer.
If you have an Iowa permit but do not have permits in the other states into which you make sales:
You may volunteer to collect those states' sales taxes even if you are not required to do so by law, or
You may be required to collect their taxes and not even know it!
You should register to be a Streamlined retailer.
If You Do NOT Have an Iowa Permit
If you do not have an Iowa permit, should you? Take a look at the requirements below. You should register as a Streamlined retailer if you are required.
Are you required to collect sales tax?
- Do you make sales into states without collecting that state’s sales taxes?
- Do you make deliveries to those states in your own trucks?
- Do you send repair or maintenance employees or representatives into various states to perform work on your behalf?
- Do you sell items through a Web site or catalog and then accept returns at a brick and mortar store?
- Do you market jointly with an affiliate that sells through catalog or Internet?
- Do you use in-state solicitors – employees, agents or independent contractors – to make sales into a state?
If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you have nexus with the state into which you are making sales.
Amnesty for those who are required to collect sales tax but are not registered with the state(s)
You may be required by law to collect sales tax anyway and not even know it. When a state learns about businesses that have “nexus” and have not been collecting the tax, it takes action not only to collect the tax, but also to collect penalty and interest. When you register through the Streamlined Sales Tax Project, you obtain amnesty for sales or use taxes uncollected in the associate member states.
In addition, all states have the same filing requirements and due dates when you are registered through SSTP. You may also take advantage of using a certified service provider to file and remit sales tax with little or no cost to you.